Sinking Of The Titanic And Great Sea Disasters by Logan Marshall (best desktop ebook reader TXT) 📖

Chapter 9 Pg 63

In The Drifting Life-Boats

 

Sorrow And Suffering--The Survivors See The Titanic

Go Down With Their Loved Ones On Board--A Night

Of Agonizing Suspense--Women Help To Row--Help

Arrives--Picking Up The Life-Boats

 

Sixteen Boats Were In The Procession Which Entered

On The Terrible Hours Of Rowing,  Drifting And Suspense.

Women Wept For Lost Husbands And Sons,  Sailors Sobbed

For The Ship Which Had Been Their Pride. Men Choked Back

Tears And Sought To Comfort The Widowed. Perhaps,  They

Said,  Other Boats Might Have Put Off In Another Direction.

They Strove,  Though None Too Sure Themselves,  To Convince

The Women Of The Certainty That A Rescue Ship Would Appear.

 

In The Distance The Titanic Looked An Enormous Length,

Her Great Bulk Outlined In Black Against The Starry Sky,  Every

Port-Hole And Saloon Blazing With Light. It Was Impossible

To Think Anything Could Be Wrong With Such A Leviathan,  Were

It Not For That Ominous Tilt Downwards In The Bows,  Where

The Water Was Now Up To The Lowest Row Of Port-Holes. Presently,

About 2 A. M.,  As Near As Can Be Determined,  Those In

The Life-Boats Observed Her Settling Very Rapidly With The

Chapter 9 Pg 64

Bows And The Bridge Completely Under Water,  And Concluded

It Was Now Only A Question Of Minutes Before She Went. So

It Proved She Slowly Tilted Straight On End With The Stern

Vertically Upwards,  And As She Did,  The Lights In The Cabins

And Saloons,  Which Until Then Had Not Flickered For A Moment,

Died Out,  Came On Again For A Single Flash,  And Finally Went

Altogether. At The Same Time The Machinery Roared Down

Through The Vessel With A Rattle And A Groaning That Could

Be Heard For Miles,  The Weirdest Sound Surely That Could Be

Heard In The Middle Of The Ocean,  A Thousand Miles Away From

Land. But This Was Not Yet Quite The End.

 

 

 

 

 

Titanic Stood Upright

 

To The Amazement Of The Awed Watchers In The Life-Boats,

The Doomed Vessel Remained In That Upright Position For A Time

Estimated At Five Minutes; Some In The Boat Say Less,  But It

Was Certainly Some Minutes That At Least 150 Feet Of The Titanic

Towered Up Above The Level Of The Sea And Loomed Black Against

The Sky.

 

 

 

 

 

Saw Last Of Big Ship

 

Then With A Quiet,  Slanting Dive She Disappeared Beneath

The Waters,  And The Eyes Of The Helpless Spectators Had Looked

For The Last Time Upon The Gigantic Vessel On Which They Had

Set Out From Southampton. And There Was Left To The Survivors

Only The Gently Heaving Sea,  The Life-Boats Filled

With Men And Women In Every Conceivable Condition Of

Dress And Undress,  Above The Perfect Sky Of Brilliant Stars

With Not A Cloud,  All Tempered With A Bitter Cold That Made

Each Man And Woman Long To Be One Of The Crew Who Toiled

Away With The Oars And Kept Themselves Warm Thereby--A

Curious,  Deadening; Bitter Cold Unlike Anything They Had

Felt Before.

 

 

 

 

 

"One Long Moan"

 

And Then With All These There Fell On The Ear The Most Appalling

Noise That Human Being Has Ever Listened To--The Cries Of

Hundreds Of Fellow-Beings Struggling In The Icy Cold Water,

Crying For Help With A Cry That Could Not Be Answered.

Chapter 9 Pg 65

Third Officer Herbert John Pitman,  In Charge Of One Of

The Boats,  Described This Cry Of Agony In His Testimony Before

The Senatorial Investigating Committee,  Under The Questioning

Of Senator Smith:

 

"I Heard No Cries Of Distress Until After The Ship Went

Down," He Said.

 

"How Far Away Were The Cries From Your Life-Boat?"

 

"Several Hundred Yards,  Probably,  Some Of Them."

 

"Describe The Screams."

 

"Don't,  Sir,  Please! I'd Rather Not Talk About It."

 

"I'm Sorry To Press It,  But What Was It Like? Were The

Screams Spasmodic?"

 

"It Was One Long Continuous Moan."

 

The Witness Said The Moans And Cries Continued An Hour.

 

Those In The Life-Boats Longed To Return And Pick Up Some Of

The Poor Drowning Souls,  But They Feared This Would Mean

Swamping The Boats And A Further Loss Of Life.

 

Some Of The Men Tried To Sing To Keep The Women From Hearing

The Cries,  And Rowed Hard To Get Away From The Scene Of

The Wreck,  But The Memory Of Those Sounds Will Be One Of The

Things The Rescued Will Find It Difficult To Forget.

 

The Waiting Sufferers Kept A Lookout For Lights,  And Several

Times It Was Shouted That Steamers' Lights Were Seen,  But They

Turned Out To Be Either A Light From Another Boat Or A Star

Low Down On The Horizon. It Was Hard To Keep Up Hope.

 

 

 

 

 

Women Tried To Commit Suicide

 

"Let Me Go Back--I Want To Go Back To My Husband--I'll

Jump From The Boat If You Don't," Cried An Agonized Voice

In One Life-Boat.

 

"You Can Do No Good By Going Back--Other Lives Will Be

Lost If You Try To Do It. Try To Calm Yourself For The Sake Of

The Living. It May Be That Your Husband Will Be Picked Up

Somewhere By One Of The Fishing Boats."

 

The Woman Who Pleaded To Go Back,  According To Mrs.

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Vera Dick,  Of Calgary,  Canada,  Later Tried To Throw Herself

From The Life-Boat. Mrs. Dick,  Describing The Scenes In The

Life-Boats,  Said There Were Half A Dozen Women In That One Boat

Who Tried To Commit Suicide When They Realized That The

Titanic Had Gone Down.

 

"Even In Canada,  Where We Have Such Clear Nights," Said

Mrs. Dick,  "I Have Never Seen Such A Clear Sky. The Stars

Were Very Bright And We Could See The Titanic Plainly,  Like A

Great Hotel On The Water. Floor After Floor Of The Lights Went

Out As We Watched. It Was Horrible,  Horrible. I Can't Bear

To Think About It. From The Distance,  As We Rowed Away,

We Could Hear The Band Playing `Nearer,  My God To Thee.'

 

"Among The Life-Boats Themselves,  However,  There Were

Scenes Just As Terrible,  Perhaps,  But To Me Nothing Could Outdo

The Tragic Grandeur With Which The Titanic Went To Its Death.

To Realize It,  You Would Have To See The Titanic As I Saw It

The Day We Set Sail--With The Flags Flying And The Bands Playing.

Everybody On Board Was Laughing And Talking About The

Titanic Being The Biggest And Most Luxurious Boat On The Ocean

And Being Unsinkable. To Think Of It Then And To Think Of It

Standing Out There In The Night,  Wounded To Death And Gasping

For Life,  Is Almost Too Big For The Imagination.

 

 

 

 

 

Scantily Clad Women In Life-Boats

 

"The Women On Our Boat Were In Nightgowns And Bare Feet

--Some Of Them--And The Wealthiest Women Mingled With The

Poorest Immigrants. One Immigrant Woman Kept Shouting:

`My God,  My Poor Father! He Put Me In This Boat And Would

Not Save Himself. Oh,  Why Didn't I Die,  Why Didn't I Die?

Why Can't I Die Now?'

 

"We Had To Restrain Her,  Else She Would Have Jumped Over-

Board. It Was Simply Awful. Some Of The Men Apparently

Had Said They Could Row Just To Get Into The Boats. We Paid

No Attention To Cowardice,  However. We Were All Busy With

Our Own Troubles. My Heart Simply Bled For The Women Who

Were Separated From Their Husbands.

 

"The Night Was Frightfully Cold,  Although Clear. We Had

To Huddle Together To Keep Warm. Everybody Drank Sparingly

Of The Water And Ate Sparingly Of The Bread. We Did Not

Know When We Would Be Saved. Everybody Tried To Remain

Cool,  Except The Poor Creatures Who Could Think Of Nothing

But Their Own Great Loss. Those With The Most Brains Seemed

To Control Themselves Best."

 

 

Chapter 9 Pg 67

Philadelphia Women Heroines

 

How Mrs. George D. Widener,  Whose Husband And Son

Perished After Kissing Her Good-Bye And Helping Her Into One Of

The Boats,  Rowed When Exhausted Seamen Were On The Verge

Of Collapse,  Was Told By Emily Geiger,  Maid Of Mrs. Widener,

Who Was Saved With Her.

 

The Girl Said Mrs. Widener Bravely Toiled Throughout The

Night And Consoled Other Women Who Had Broken Down Under

The Strain.

 

Mrs. William E. Carter And Mrs. John B. Thayer Were In

The Same Life-Boat And Worked Heroically To Keep It Free From

The Icy Menace. Although Mrs. Thayer's Husband Remained

Aboard The Titanic And Sank With It,  And Although She Had

No Knowledge Of The Safety Of Her Son Until They Met,  Hours

Later,  Aboard The Carpathia,  Mrs. Thayer Bravely Labored At

The Oars Throughout The Night.

 

In Telling Of Her Experience Mrs. Carter Said:

 

"When I Went Over The Side With My Children And Got In

The Boat There Were No Seamen In It. Then Came A Few Men,

But There Were Oars With No One To Use Them. The Boat Had

Been Filled With Passengers,  And There Was Nothing Else For

Me To Do But To Take An Oar.

 

"We Could See Now That The Time Of The Ship Had Come. She

Was Sinking,  And We Were Warned By Cries From The Men Above

To Pull Away From The Ship Quickly. Mrs. Thayer,  Wife Of

The Vice-President Of The Pennsylvania Railroad,  Was In My

Boat,  And She,  Too,  Took An Oar.

 

"It Was Cold And We Had No Time To Clothe Ourselves With

Warm Overcoats. The Rowing Warmed Me. We Started To

Pull Away From The Ship. We Could See The Dim Outlines Of The

Decks Above,  But We Could Not Recognize Anybody."

 

 

 

 

 

Many Women Rowing

 

Mrs. William R. Bucknell's Account Of The Part